JP2009131339A - Ultrasonic oral cavity washer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic oral cavity washer for simultaneously washing the inside of an oral cavity by ultrasonic vibrations and washing the inside of the oral cavity by a water stream. <P>SOLUTION: The ultrasonic oral cavity washer is provided with a head part 3, and a void part 6 to which water-pressure adjusted water is to be introduced is provided inside the head part 3. An ultrasonic vibrator 8 for transmitting the ultrasonic vibrations having a prescribed frequency capable of utilizing the acceleration energy of the ultrasonic vibrations in the water to the water introduced into the void part 6 is provided so as to be in contact with one surface 6A of two practically parallel surfaces that the void part 6 has, and a jetting part 7 for directly jetting the water to which the ultrasonic vibrations are transmitted into the oral cavity is provided near the other surface 6B of the void part 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic oral irrigator, and more particularly to an ultrasonic oral irrigator that simultaneously performs cleaning in the oral cavity by ultrasonic vibration and cleaning in the oral cavity by water flow.

Conventionally, there has been an ultrasonic toothbrush having a brush in which an ultrasonic element is embedded in a tip portion and flocked (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). The ultrasonic toothbrush vibrates the brush finely by ultrasonic vibration to remove the eating cake and plaque in the oral cavity. Conventionally, there has been an oral cleaning device for cleaning the oral cavity by ejecting water from a nozzle at the tip. The oral irrigator removes the eating candy in the oral cavity by the water pressure of the jetted water. An ultrasonic cleaning device that removes dirt such as the oral cavity by radiating a relatively low frequency of about 20 kHz to 60 kHz has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 2 below).
JP 2004-57534 A JP 2006-75775 A

  However, among the above-described conventional techniques, the ultrasonic toothbrush having a brushed brush described in Patent Document 1 is a consumable brush and needs to be replaced periodically, so that replacement costs are incurred. There was a problem. Moreover, the ultrasonic cleaning apparatus of Patent Document 2 is trying to obtain a cleaning effect by generating ultrasonic vibration of a relatively low frequency (for example, a frequency of about 20 kHz to 60 kHz) and causing cavitation in the water. This is an oral cleaning device using an action different from that of the present invention for generating ultrasonic vibration having a predetermined frequency in which acceleration energy of ultrasonic vibration described later can be used.

  On the other hand, an oral washer that cleans the oral cavity using the water pressure of the jetted water can remove deposits in the oral cavity, but has a small effect of brushing teeth. Therefore, conventionally, in order to perform sufficient tooth brushing and cleaning, the above-described ultrasonic toothbrush and oral cleaning device must be used separately, which is troublesome.

  Here, according to the study of the present inventor, ultrasonic vibration having a predetermined frequency at which the acceleration energy of ultrasonic vibration can be used is transmitted to water, and the water to which the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted is ejected into the oral cavity. An oral irrigator is conceivable. Using such a mouth washer, water that has been transmitted with ultrasonic vibrations is spouted into the oral cavity to brush the teeth, thereby simultaneously cleaning the oral cavity with ultrasonic vibration and cleaning the oral cavity with water flow. And an extremely high cleaning effect can be achieved.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to provide an ultrasonic oral cleaning device that simultaneously performs cleaning of the oral cavity by ultrasonic vibration and cleaning of the oral cavity by water flow.

  The ultrasonic oral cleaner of the present invention is provided with a means for generating ultrasonic vibration on one of two parallel surfaces of the cavity, and is relatively higher than the means for generating ultrasonic vibration. An ultrasonic vibration having a frequency is generated to transmit the ultrasonic vibration to the water in the cavity. Moreover, the ultrasonic oral washer of the present invention directly jets the water, to which the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted, into the oral cavity from a jet part provided in the vicinity of the other surface of the hollow part.

  That is, the present invention is an ultrasonic oral cleaner, which includes a head portion, and a cavity portion into which water whose water pressure has been adjusted is introduced is provided inside the head portion, and the cavity portions are substantially mutually connected. An ultrasonic vibration generator that has two parallel surfaces and transmits ultrasonic vibration having a predetermined frequency at which acceleration energy of ultrasonic vibration can be used in the water to the water introduced into the cavity; An ejection part that is provided so as to be in contact with one of the two surfaces of the cavity, and that ejects water to which the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted directly into the oral cavity in the vicinity of the other surface of the cavity. This is an ultrasonic oral cleaner.

  Preferably, in the ultrasonic mouth washer of the present invention, the predetermined frequency at which the acceleration energy of the ultrasonic vibration can be used is 1 MHz or more.

  Preferably, in the ultrasonic oral cleaning device of the present invention, the ejection part includes a plurality of holes, and the size of the hole provided in the vicinity of the center of the ejection part is the hole. Is larger than other different hole sizes.

  Preferably, in the ultrasonic mouth washer of the present invention, the surface constituting the ejection part has a curved shape with a predetermined curvature.

  The ultrasonic oral cleaner of the present invention transmits ultrasonic vibrations to water introduced into the cavity by an ultrasonic vibration generator, and directly jets the water to which the ultrasonic vibrations are transmitted into the oral cavity. Therefore, according to the ultrasonic mouth washer of the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously perform cleaning in the oral cavity by ultrasonic vibration and cleaning in the oral cavity by water flow. In addition, the ultrasonic mouth washer of the present invention jets water into which the ultrasonic vibration having a predetermined frequency at which the acceleration energy of the ultrasonic vibration can be used is transmitted, so that an extremely high cleaning effect can be obtained.

  In the ultrasonic mouth washer of the present invention, the frequency of the ultrasonic vibration transmitted to the jetted water is a high frequency at which the acceleration energy of the ultrasonic vibration can be used. May be relatively small. For this reason, the ultrasonic vibration generator is arranged so as to be in contact with one of two substantially parallel surfaces of the cavity. Moreover, since the ejection part which ejects the water to which the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted into the oral cavity is provided in the vicinity of the other surface of the cavity, the straightness of the ultrasonic vibration is ensured. As a result, the cleaning effect in the oral cavity by ultrasonic vibration can be improved.

  Moreover, the head part with which the ultrasonic oral washer of this invention is equipped is not equipped with the brush etc. which are consumables, but jets the water in which the ultrasonic vibration was transmitted directly in the oral cavity from a jet part. Therefore, according to the ultrasonic mouth washer of the present invention, it is not necessary to replace the head part periodically.

  Moreover, if the ejection part with which the ultrasonic oral washer of the present invention is provided with a relatively flat surface, when water is ejected from the ejection part into the oral cavity, the direction of the water to be ejected is aligned. The water flows between the surface of the ejection part and the teeth and gums. Therefore, it is possible to effectively transmit the acceleration energy of the ultrasonic vibration transmitted to the jetted water to the teeth and gums. Furthermore, the gap between the ejection surface and the teeth and gums can be easily maintained by the water pressure from the ejection surface of the ejection part and the water flow between the teeth and gums (causing a hovercraft effect). . As a result, the head portion can be moved smoothly during use of the ultrasonic oral cleaner of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of the ultrasonic oral cleaner of the present invention. The ultrasonic oral washer shown in FIG. 1 includes a tip 1 and a handle 2. Reference numeral 3 in the front end portion 1 is a head portion, 4 is a neck portion, and 5 is a fitting portion. Further, 11 in the handle portion 2 is a water pressure adjuster, and 13 is a tube fitting portion. The tip of the tube 14 connected to the handle portion 2 via the tube fitting portion 13 is connected to a water tank or water tap provided with an electric pump (not shown). Water with water pressure is fed into the. The tip portion 1 and the handle portion 2 are configured to be separated by the fitting portion 5.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a cross-sectional view of the ultrasonic mouth washer shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the cross section of the state which isolate | separated the ultrasonic oral washer into the front-end | tip part 1 and the handle | pattern part 2 is shown. A cavity 6 is provided inside the head 3. Reference numeral 30 denotes a solid part made of, for example, a resin. The cavity 6 has two surfaces 6A and 6B that are substantially parallel to each other.

  An ultrasonic transducer 8 is provided so as to be in contact with one surface 6A of the cavity 6. Specifically, the surface of the ultrasonic transducer 8 is in contact with the surface 6A. The ultrasonic transducer 8 is an ultrasonic wave having a predetermined frequency at which the acceleration energy of ultrasonic vibration can be used in water introduced into the cavity 6 through the tube 14, the handle pipe 16, and the tip pipe 15. Transmit (or superimpose) vibration. In the vicinity of the other surface 6B facing the one surface 6A of the hollow portion 6, there is provided an ejection portion 7 for directly ejecting water to which the ultrasonic vibration has been transmitted into the oral cavity. That is, the head part 3 is not provided with a brush or the like, and the water is directly ejected from the ejection part 7 into the oral cavity without passing through the brush or the like. The ejection part 7 has a relatively flat surface (ejection surface). Moreover, the ejection part 7 is equipped with the hole for ejecting the said water. In addition, 18 in the figure is a connector that electrically connects the tip portion 1 and the handle portion 2.

  The handle 2 includes an ultrasonic oscillator 9, a rechargeable battery 10, a power switch 12, a water pressure regulator 11, and a handle pipe 16. When the power switch 12 is turned on, power is turned on from the rechargeable battery 10 to the ultrasonic oscillator 9. When the power is turned on, the ultrasonic vibrator 8 is ultrasonically vibrated by an ultrasonic oscillation circuit including the ultrasonic oscillator 9 and the ultrasonic vibrator 8. The water pressure adjuster 11 in the ultrasonic vibrator 8 adjusts the water pressure (or water amount) of the water flowing through the handle pipe 16. The handle portion pipe 16 communicates with the distal end portion pipe 15 of the distal end portion 1 in the fitting portion 5.

  The operation of the ultrasonic oral cleaner shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The water fed from the tube 14 passes through the tube fitting portion 13 and the handle pipe 16 and is adjusted by the water pressure adjuster 11. The water whose pressure has been adjusted is fed into the cavity 6 through the fitting part 5 and the tip pipe 15. The ultrasonic vibrator 8 generates an ultrasonic vibration having a high frequency (for example, a frequency of 1 MHz or more) at which the acceleration energy of the ultrasonic vibration can be used in the water fed into the cavity 6, and the generated ultrasonic vibration Is transferred to the water. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined frequency is 1.6 MHz.

  The acceleration energy will be described. When ultrasonic vibration having a high frequency of 1 MHz or higher is transmitted to water, a large acceleration is obtained in the water. The energy by the obtained acceleration is acceleration energy. The magnitude of the acceleration obtained can be obtained from the following equation 1.

a = (2πf) ² ε Equation 1
In Equation 1, a is the acceleration, f is the frequency, and ε is the displacement of the cleaning medium (water). From Equation 1, it can be seen that an ultrasonic wave with a high frequency can give an extremely large acceleration to the cleaning medium (water) as compared with an ultrasonic wave with a low frequency.

  As a conventional technique related to ultrasonic cleaning, ultrasonic vibration having a relatively low frequency (for example, a frequency in a frequency range of about 20 kHz to 60 kHz) is transmitted to water to generate bubbles by cavitation, and when the bubbles burst There has been proposed a method for cleaning the oral cavity using this energy. On the other hand, in the present invention, for example, ultrasonic vibration having a high frequency of 1 MHz or higher is transmitted to water, so that cavitation is not generated in the water. In other words, at a high frequency at which the ultrasonic vibration cleaning device of the present invention can utilize the acceleration energy of ultrasonic vibration transmitted to water, a small displacement ε, that is, a small ultrasonic vibration output is sufficient as shown in Equation 1. Acceleration energy is obtained, so cavitation is not generated in water. That is, the present invention is not an ultrasonic cleaning technique that uses energy by cavitation, but an ultrasonic cleaning technique that uses the acceleration energy described above. The ultrasonic mouth washer of the present invention exerts a great cleaning action by ejecting water into which the high-frequency ultrasonic vibration capable of using acceleration energy is transmitted into the oral cavity.

  Next, the water to which the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted is directly ejected from the ejection part 7 into the oral cavity. Therefore, according to the ultrasonic oral cleaner of the present invention, the oral cavity is cleaned (for example, plaque is removed) by the ultrasonic vibration transmitted to the jetted water, and at the same time, the water flow The oral cavity is cleaned.

  In particular, as is well known, the ultrasonic vibration has straightness in the traveling direction of the wave. However, since the ultrasonic vibrator 8 generates ultrasonic vibration of a relatively high frequency, the ultrasonic vibration The straightness of the wave progresses. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, an ultrasonic vibrator 8 that transmits the ultrasonic vibration to water is provided so as to be in contact with the surface 6A, and an ejection portion that ejects water to which the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted. 7 is provided in the vicinity of the surface 6B, so that the ultrasonic vibration in which the straightness of the wave is advanced is generated through the ejection of the water from the ejection portion 7 and the ultrasonic vibration is generated. It can be made to go straight from the part (ultrasonic transducer 8) to the oral cavity which is the output destination of the ultrasonic vibration. As a result, the cleaning effect in the oral cavity by ultrasonic vibration can be improved.

  In addition, the head unit 3 included in the ultrasonic oral cleaning device of the present invention does not include a brush or the like that is a consumable, and the water to which the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted is directly ejected from the ejection unit 7 into the oral cavity. There is no need to periodically replace the head unit 3.

  Moreover, as above-mentioned, since the ejection part 7 is provided with a comparatively flat surface, when water is ejected from the ejection part 7 into the oral cavity, the direction of the water to be ejected is aligned, and the surface of the ejection part 7 And water flows between the teeth and gums. Therefore, it is possible to effectively transmit the acceleration energy of the ultrasonic vibration transmitted to the jetted water to the teeth and gums. Further, the gap between the ejection surface and the teeth and gums can be easily maintained by the water pressure from the ejection surface of the ejection portion 7 and the flow of the water (so-called hovercraft effect is produced). As a result, the head unit 3 can be moved smoothly during use of the ultrasonic oral cleaner of the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the ejection portion. As shown in FIG. 3, the ejection unit 7 included in the ultrasonic oral cleaner of the present invention includes a plurality of holes 20 and 21. The size (diameter) of the hole 21 provided near the center of the ejection portion 7 is larger than the size (diameter) of another hole 20 different from the hole 21. By configuring the ejection part 7 as shown in FIG. 3, for example, when the hole 20 is clogged, the clogged hole 20 is cleaned, and the cleaned scissors or the like are discharged from the hole 21 having a large diameter. be able to. Further, since the amount of water ejected from the hole 21 having a large diameter is large, transmission of ultrasonic waves to the water is stabilized.

  In addition, the ejection part 7 with which the ultrasonic oral cavity cleaning device of this invention is provided is not limited to the structure shown in FIG. You may make it take the structure with which the ejection part 7 with which an ultrasonic oral washer is equipped is equipped with the hole of the arbitrary numbers of arbitrary numbers which eject water.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the shape of the ejection portion. In this example, the shape of the ejection part 7 when the ultrasonic mouth washer is viewed from the side will be described. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the surface constituting the ejection portion 7 may have a curved shape with a predetermined curvature, as shown in FIG. 4 (A) or FIG. 4 (B). In particular, when the surface constituting the ejection portion 7 has a shape as shown in FIG. 4A, when water is ejected from the ejection portion 7 to the teeth and gums, Since water accumulates in the recess 171 shown, the gap between the ejection surface and the teeth and gums can be more easily maintained compared to the case where the ejection portion 7 has a flat ejection surface (the hovercraft effect is increased). .

It is a figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the ultrasonic oral cavity cleaning device of this invention. It is an example of sectional drawing of an ultrasonic mouth washer. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of an ejection part. It is a figure which shows an example of the shape of an ejection part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tip part 2 Handle part 3 Head part 4 Neck part 5 Fitting part 6 Cavity part 6A, 6B surface 7 Ejection part 8 Ultrasonic vibrator 9 Ultrasonic oscillator 10 Rechargeable battery 11 Water pressure regulator 12 Power switch 13 Tube fitting part 14 Tube 15 Tip pipe 16 Handle pipe 17 Electrical wiring 18 Connector 20, 21 Hole 30 Solid part 171 Recess

Claims (4)

An ultrasonic mouth washer,
With a head,
Provided inside the head portion is a cavity into which water whose water pressure has been adjusted is introduced,
The cavity has two faces substantially parallel to each other;
The two surfaces of the cavity having ultrasonic vibration generators that transmit ultrasonic vibration having a predetermined frequency at which the acceleration energy of ultrasonic vibration can be used in the water to the water introduced into the cavity. And a jetting part for jetting the water, to which the ultrasonic vibration is transmitted, directly into the oral cavity is provided near the other side of the cavity. Sonic oral cleaner. The ultrasonic oral washer according to claim 1,
The ultrasonic oral cleaning device, wherein a predetermined frequency at which the acceleration energy of the ultrasonic vibration can be used is 1 MHz or more. In the ultrasonic mouth washer according to claim 1 or 2,
The ejection part includes a plurality of holes, and the size of a hole provided near the center of the ejection part among the plurality of holes is larger than the size of another hole different from the hole. Ultrasonic mouth washer. The ultrasonic oral washer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a surface constituting the ejection part has a curved shape with a predetermined curvature.

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